After 11 years as an Infantryman...I'm now a cable guy with an opinion.

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Army Times Editiorial: Disability system cheats soldiers

An excellent editorial by the Army Times, confirming issues we have discussed for quite some time now.

Soldiers have been cheated by the system for decades. The Department of Defense "low balls" soldiers in dire need of disability help, pawning them off on an over burdened Veterans Administration.

I had not heard the issue of Officers getting better benefits than Enlisted soldiers. With Officers performing the evals, it should not surprise us though.

Wounded enlisted troops are less likely to get a 50 percent or greater disability rating than are officers. One-third of injured Army officers get disability ratings of 50 percent or greater, compared to only 21 percent of enlisted soldiers. These facts play into the worst stereotypes of military culture — that officers are a privileged elite and that the Army and Marine Corps, whose troops bear the greatest burden in battle, care the least for their people.